Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator-elect Fu Kun-chi (傅崐萁) on Monday rescinded his candidacy for legislative speaker, removing the last challenge to former Kaohsiung mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) and Legislator Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) before the party formalizes its ticket on Wednesday.
The announcement was a turnaround from the day before, when the former Hualien County commissioner held a news conference doubling down on his intention to run and outlining his platform.
Even before the news conference, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) had already given his support to Han and Chiang to run as speaker and deputy speaker respectively.
Photo: Tien Yu-hua, Taipei Times
The party on Monday held a meeting with its newly elected legislators, concluding in the change of heart by Fu.
“My personal honor is not important, it’s about improving the legislature,” Fu said.
Saying there was only one way to unite the party at this time, Fu endorsed the Han-Chiang ticket as the party’s consensus for the most competitive and robust option.
Chu thanked Fu for supporting Han and Chiang, who are to be formally nominated by the party on Wednesday.
Voting for the new speaker and deputy speaker is scheduled for Thursday next week, the first day of the new legislature.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
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